Another "Book of Five Rings" Translation...

Yeah, I know there are a million of them. Most focus on how it can be
transferred to modern-day life. Each has it's own interpretation of
what Miyamoto Musashi was trying to say. But perhaps this one is a
bit different...

It's the interpretation of Stephen F. Kaufman, Hanshi 10th Dan. On
the back it makes the claim that it is specifically for the marital
artist, the way it was orginally intended. As Kaufman points
out "There is a significant difference between not getting a deal
signed and having your head cut off. Business is mental. War is
mental -and- physical."

Anyone on the list who studies the marital arts have an opinion about
this particular book? Anyone know a better interpretation? Let us
know. With so many different interpretations of Mushashi's work on
the market, it's hard for those of us with no martial arts experience
or translation skills to know what to trust and what to stay away
from.

"Musashi's Book of Five Rings"
Stephen F. Kaufman
Tuttle Publishing, 1994
ISBN# 0-8048-3520-9

-MissB

LOL... I'm sorry, MissB... I can't resist this.

Sounds like just the book married couples need...

warg3791 <Warg3791@...> wrote:

>>it is specifically for the marital

artist...<<

>>Anyone on the list who studies the marital arts<<

Freudian slip, m'dear? :-D

phil

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

YOU BEAT ME TO IT PHIL!!!
Can you imagine the MILLIONS of copies which would be sold? A book
on "marital artists"....or how about "The Training of the Marital
Artist" (^_^)
I have the Victor Harris book ISBN 0879510188 it is pretty good I
think

but what is needed is a book with a "straight" translation with tons
of footnotes and 1 chapter by a martial artist 1 chapter by a modern
military man and 1 chapter by a historian and 1 chapter by a
religious studies scholar

although one of Musashi's most interesting characteristics is that he
claimed no affiliation with any established religion I found many
passages with a Buddhist influence...this is an example of how the
foreign and native belief systems within Japan are inseperable from
its people...religion and culture goes hand in hand in many countries
of Asia

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, spiritus saitou
wrote:

> LOL... I'm sorry, MissB... I can't resist this.
>
> Sounds like just the book married couples need...
>
> warg3791 wrote:
>
> >>it is specifically for the marital
> artist...<<
>
> >>Anyone on the list who studies the marital arts<<
>
> Freudian slip, m'dear? :-D
>
> phil
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Kaufman's translation of the GoRin No Sho is not one to be taken
seriously. The book is not a translation of Musashi's treatise so
much as Kaufman's interpretation of various translations of the
book. I have no idea what his credentials are, but I'm pretty
certain they don't include Niten Ichi Ryu. Over at Amazon.com
there's a pretty good review of the book that echos basically
everything I'd been told about it. There is a man called Hyakutake
Colin who belongs to one of the surviving branches of that art and
you can read a bit more about it www.hyoho.com. I'm afraid exactly
which translation he recommends escapes me at the moment.
It's been a while since I read the GoRin No Sho, I'm more of a fan
of Yagyu Munenori's Heiho Kadensho. Though I belong to Yagyu
Shinkage Ryu so I'm admittedly biased.

In a message dated 1/25/2005 9:24:50 PM Eastern Standard Time,
spiritus_saitou@... writes:
LOL... I'm sorry, MissB... I can't resist this.

Sounds like just the book married couples need...

warg3791 <Warg3791@...> wrote:

>>it is specifically for the marital

artist...<<

>>Anyone on the list who studies the marital arts<<

Freudian slip, m'dear? :-D

phil
How about "MissB needs to stay away from a keyboard when she's tired"? LOL

-MissB


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Victor Harris's legendary translation is my favorite.

--M.